Box Score

Indiana, Pa. — The Millersville women's basketball team hung tough with the three-time defending Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Champion Indiana (Pa.) Crimson Hawks for the first 29 minutes of Saturday afternoon's game. The Marauders could never get over the hump though, dropping their third straight game, 67-54, at IUP's Memorial Field House.

Millersville's defense was stellar throughout the opening 20 minutes. The Marauders (7-3) held IUP to just 6-of-23 shooting, while connecting on 9-of-32 shots from the floor themselves. The Crimson Hawks (6-3) claimed their 25-22 halftime lead thanks to a 12-of-13 performance at the charity stripe. Eryn Withers led the way with eight first half points and was 3-of-3 at the line. MU got six points from Raquel Green and four from Emily Balogh.

IUP opened second half play on a quick 6-1 run, before the Black and Gold got six unanswered points to cut it back to a one possession game. Lacey Claar would prove to be a thorn in the Marauders' sides, though. Claar, who scored just five points in the first half, got hot down the stretch, scoring 14 of her game-high 19 points. The Crimson Hawks slowly began to put distance between themselves and the visitors, grabbing their first double-digit lead with 10:42 to go in the game.

A free throw by Dominique Stroman briefly got MU back within nine, but IUP's Brianna Johnson converted a lay-up on the ensuing possession to run the lead back to 11 and the Crimson Hawks never looked back, outscoring Millersville 42-32 in the second half to secure the victory.

Indiana's string of recent success continued against MU with the win. IUP has now emerged victorious in six of the last seven meetings between the two schools. For the second straight contest, Balogh was the team leader in points, this time scoring 13. Green finished with 10, while Mashira Newman came off the bench to break out of a mini-slump with 10 of her own. Jenna Craig, who missed last Wednesday's game, came back to post an impressive nine-point, 15-rebound game. It was the highest rebounding output of the season for Craig, who registered 10 of her boards in the second half.

Sylvie Tafen, Hillary Shope, and Withers all had 10 points on the afternoon for IUP, helping to support Claar in the scoring department. Johnson and Julie Lozon had seven points apiece for the Crimson Hawks, who were victorious despite being outrebounded 48-38.

The task at hand for Millersville gets no easier, as it travels to California (Pa.) to face the 10th ranked Vulcans tomorrow afternoon. The PSAC crossover contest tips-off at 1 p.m.